What’s the best venue?
Jo: The Prince Albert – it’s intimate and feels super special. The Dome has got to be up there too. I also love going to The Rosehill – Kassia and Jules have created a real hub.
Steve: I’ve also seen some great gigs in the Green Door Store recently.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Jo: Brighton Electric. Most of the time we rehearse in my little studio room at home though.
Steve: Ooosh Tours in Portslade has a great rehearsal space. For recording, Church Road Studios in Hove is excellent.

What’s the best club?
Jo: With a bunch of friends we’ve recently started a film club which involves lots of wine drinking, swimming in the sea, and talking about great films. My kind of club these days…!

What’s the best record shop?
Jo: Resident
Steve: I also like Mr Bongo

Where’s the best places to eat?
Jo: Cin Cin on Vine Street is a current favourite. Carlito Burrito, Fatto a Mano, Murasaki, Plateau, Kitgum Kitchen, Baby Boa at The Pond are always good options and The Set for a special occasion. Belgian Chips on St James are amazing with all the Belgian sauces just like back home.
Steve: I love the Chilli Pickle

What’s the best pub?
Steve: I normally drink in the Reservoir or the Village in Hanover these days, but I like the Battle of Trafalgar when I’m in town.
Jo: The Great Eastern

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Jo: being so close to the Downs, the cliffs, the sea; so easily connected to the rest of the world via Gatwick; and on top of that being a place of open mindedness, creativity and a green dot in the sea of blue.
Steve: Brighton & Hove Albion and the music scene of course

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Jo: don’t think I’ve ever had one…
Steve: Not sure I have either. I had some Southend rock when I was a kid.

Record Still Spinning by Fröst is out now. It will appear on the album Matters, due out on 28th September on Lost Room records

It’s nearly that time again. Next weekend, the Great Escape rolls into town again, turning everywhere that you could fit a stage, and a lot of places where you can’t imagine a stage normally, into venues for a few days. We’re not going to go through the whole line up – first of all there are literally hundreds of bands playing, but also most of them aren’t from Brighton. Also, a lot of the good local stuff happens as part of the Alt Escape. What we’ve done instead is compiled a list of what we think is every Brighton band who are playing as part of the main festival, and asked a few of our favourite bands for their recommendations for the weekend. We’ve also got a list of what we believe is all the facebook events set up for Alt Escape gigs, which will provide you with a lot more information than you’ll get from anywhere else.

LibraLibra (North Laine Brewery, Saturday 10pm + Brighton Electric Alt Escape Afterparty)
I just saw Idles at Liverpool sound city and they blew me away the performance was electric and there was this fierce buzz from the crowd, I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Slugabed is also playing with his full live band and that’s an experience in itself, definitely check that out!
Black Futures – I am desperate to go to one of their shows, it’s fully Immersive and engages the audience – they sound huge!

So, Friday night’s New Faith gig wasn’t the only album launch we went to this weekend. Saturday night Matthew Hodson launched his debut album Detach at the Hope & Ruin. Matthew Hodson has previously graced the blog under his former artist name Bitbin, and his current moniker makes similar bass heavy electronic music. Support on the night came from Johanna Bramli and Knightstown, who Matthew Hodson plays with live, which meant that in essence he was supporting himself. The album is out now on Solitude records. Continue reading →

On Friday night we were lucky enough to be right down the front for two fantastic bands at a sold out gig at the Hope & Ruin. It’s been more than a year since AK/DK played in Brighton, but it’s been less than a year since Fröst have been going (although both members are have been in bands for over ten years). Here’s our pics – as usual, click through to view large:

And if you missed out because it was sold out, or want to relive the experience, here’s a couple of live videos from both bands, courtesy of Small Pond and BMusic: